Kendall, that's because you and I and everybody here have some estimation of the value of life and liberty. I'm not sure that habitual criminals do. They don't value their own life and liberty so some of them don't care when it's taken away. Some of them have it a lot better in prison than they ever did on the outside.

Now... that being said... I do believe people can change. I believe there are incarcerated people who know they made stupid mistakes and they want to do better. In that regard I am all for getting prisoners some kind of education or vocational training so they will have a valuable skill when they get out. I believe that most people can be rehabilitated and be good contributing members to society.

But not everybody can. Some people are just plain bad and can't be fixed. And I'm not talking about people who are sick, I'm talking about people who are evil. Those are two different things in my mind. What do we do about them?

And what about those who want to be executed? Timothy McVeigh wants to be executed. Several years ago there was a man in Washington state, a serial child rapist/murderer who wanted to be executed. He had been through every single rehabilitation door there was, to no avail. He said, the only way you can stop me is to kill me so go ahead and hang me. He specifically requested hanging because he had strangled his victims. He got his wish.

On another note... the man here in Tennessee who is scheduled to die next week has a clemency hearing either today or tomorrow. The victim's family does not want to see him executed and I think their wishes should be granted.

KFC